Schalke beaten away in Munich

Three changes to the starting XI

Schalke were without Henning Matriciani for the trip to the Bavarian capital. The defender was still suffering from a knock picked up against Mainz last time out and was replaced by Jere Uronen at left-back. The other two changes saw Danny Latza come in for Rodrigo Zalazar and Simon Terodde make way for Michael Frey.

Müller and Kimmich on the scoresheet

The record German champions took control of the game right away and continuously put the Schalke defence under pressure. Serge Gnabry had the first chance of the afternoon, but his low shot was well saved by Alexander Schwolow (7’). Three minutes later, Thomas Müller drove into the box and the ball eventually fell for Kingsley Coman. His effort from close range was blocked on the line by Sepp van den Berg.

Bayern continued to create chances in search of an opening goal. Gnabry couldn’t get on the end of Mazraoui’s cross across the six-yard box (12’), Schwolow saved Müller’s shot with his legs and then Jamal Musiala cleared the bar from around 15 yards out (18’). Shortly afterwards though, the home team took the lead. Leroy Sané laid it off for Thomas Müller on the edge of the box and the 2014 World Cup winner picked out the bottom corner with his left foot (21’).

The league leaders doubled their advantage eight minutes later from the spot. Jamal Musiala was caught by Cedric Brunner’s arm in the box, and, although referee Dr. Robert Schröder initially let play continue, he went to rewatch the incident after advice from VAR and then gave a penalty. Joshua Kimmich stepped up and sent Schwolow the wrong way to make it 2-0 (29’). The hosts weren’t as threatening after their second goal in the remainder of the first half. The closest they came to a third before the break was a Gnabry header, saved by Schwolow. Thomas Tuchel’s side continued to dominate nonetheless, and Schalke really struggled to find any space against a well-organised Bayern defence.

Aside from the two goals Bayern scored, the Royal Blues suffered another blow in the first 45 minutes. Marius Bülter was booked for a foul on Noussair Mazraoui in the 36th minute, his fifth yellow card of the season. He will therefore miss next week’s crucial game against Frankfurt.

Gnabry brace after the break

Bayern made it 3-0 just five minutes into the second half thanks to Serge Gnabry. He fired a low shot into the back of the net with his left foot from a Joao Cancelo assist.

Schalke’s first decent chance of the game came after Bayern’s third goal. Sepp van den Berg’s effort with his shoulder from a corner went just past Yann Sommer’s post (63’). At the other end, Schwolow saved from Coman and then Thomas Müller missed the rebound at the back post. Bayern wouldn’t have to wait long for their next goal though, as Gnabry added to his account for the afternoon. He burst in behind the S04 back line and rounded Schwolow to make it 4-0 (65’).

Despite the big deficit, Schalke didn’t let their heads drop and tried to score at least one goal, but substitute Sebastian Polter & Co. couldn’t find any gaps in the FCB defence. That wasn’t the case for their attackers, who continued to carve S04 open. Musiala slipped in Mathys Tel with 10 minutes to go and he beat Schwolow with his first touch. Less than two minutes later, the provider almost turned goalscorer, were it not for a fine save by Schwolow.

Bayern were still searching for more goals late on in the game. Schwolow got the better of Thomas Müller from a Sané pass with a minute to play, however Noussair Mazraoui scored their sixth of the day in injury time from a long ball by Sadio Mané.

Two games to go

Schalke’s final two games of the season are against both of this year’s DFB-Pokal finalists. Eintracht Frankfurt will visit the VELTINS-Arena next Saturday (20/5), followed by a trip to RB Leipzig a week later on the final day (27/5). Both games will kick off at 15:30 CEST.